Windows 7 updates stuck

Posted on 2016-10-19 13:53

If you have older machines that are running Windows 7 you may have run into
an issue where Windows Update gets stuck at the Preparing to install screen
(seemingly forever). I've been able to get past this issue just by stopping
the Windows update service, then applying the "July 2016 update rollup for
Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1" (see KB 3172605 below) though
its possible thats because I already have applied a bunch of other patches
so your mileage may vary. Also, it appears this may cause some issues with
bluetooth so be aware of that if you use BT (my machines do not). There
is a good article about the issue
on InfoWorld by Woody Leonhard from back at the end of July.